The Matthew Process

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Matthew 5:23-25

We have watched the television drama, The Good Wife, regularly and avidly for several years. This show cleverly interweaves politics and law and relationships. it is well-acted and while the plot-line has dragged at times, the producers and writers keep re-inventing. One critic observed recently that The Good Wife might be a cynical social commentary because corruption and deception abounds and even the supposedly good people, including "good wife" Alicia, can be rather shady in their dealings.

This past week the show got religion, not for the first time, but with an interesting turn. One of Alicia's firm's clients owns a corporation which produces GMO seeds. He takes a farmer to court for illegally planting seeds harvested from his own crop. As strange as that may sound, proprietary rights for seed rests with the company which has the patent in both the States and Canada.

These two men are actually neighbours and both are Christians, so they decide to leave the courtroom and settle their dispute through biblically-based arbitration called The Matthew Process. It is based on the teaching of Jesus as found in what is often called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter five.

The lawyers are still involved, so they begin searching scripture to make their points. Atheist Alicia turns to her teenage daughter Grace, who has become a Christian through friends. It turns out that Grace has developed a mature approach to scripture, gently admonishing her mother for "proof-texting," cherry-picking verses out of context. When Alicia asks Grace whether she really believes the bible, she admits that she doesn't take it all literally, but offers that it can be "true in another way." Alicia is impressed and so was I. It is rare to see anything but cartoonish portrayals of Christians and the bible on television.

Eventually the two adversaries choose to act on their Christian faith and reconcile, the way Jesus invites us to do. Go figure!

Does this plot-line surprise you in this rather anti-religious climate? Are you going to find the episode (it is "on demand")?